12th Avenue Interview

Much like their smash-hit, ‘Crazy’, 12th Avenue have had an insane past couple of years packed with much triumph and strain. After stepping out of the spotlight to recapture their focus and hunger, 12A have decided to make an official comeback. Frontman Mark Haze opened up to MusicReview about his band’s initial success, the inevitable burnout, milking of cash cows, and touring with Seether.

12th Avenue had huge commercial success on local radio stations with the release of the single, ‘Crazy’. After that, you guys were a hot topic on everyone’s lips and suddenly disappeared. What happened?

We had just about finished recording our second album, Insane, as ’Crazy’ hit the number one spot. We followed on by releasing “Living in my life’, which followed ‘Crazy’ in the number 1 spot on 5FM. We then signed to Musketeer Records and ended off the trilogy by releasing the Sober album just 1 month before the Seether tour. The schedule started to become a bit frantic and eventually band members started to take strain. This resulted in us replacing band members, and eventually making a decision to take a break and re-think our strategy. It’s been nearly 6 months since we last played a show. We now have a new manager and a new bassist and are in the best state of mind we could possibly be in. We know what we want, and we know we can take on the world!

You supported Seether on their homecoming tour. Did they share any invaluable advice with you?

I think that each band member had a different insight into the lessons we learnt from the Seether dudes on tour. We mostly learnt how to pull an all-nighter, every night (smiles). We witnessed many bands asking them for help and advice, and after a while, you’ve gotta wonder how that has to start getting irritating. We were so glad to be playing with one of our favourite bands, that we just soaked it up and enjoyed every minute of it.

Cokefest is canned for 2010 – and it looks like it may never return – and V-fest just never happened. Do you think SA bands are getting fewer chances to showcase their talent alongside international headliners?

I couldn’t agree more. In the SA music industry, it’s not about how good you are, or whether you’re the right band for the job, it’s about who you know and who your friends are. Much more attention needs to go into these events. Promoters need to realise that if they keep inviting bands that suck – and this is not true for all the SA bands that have played at Cokefest – there will be less and less attendance. Start scouting the real talent – not the poster boys who shagged somebody’s daughter, and managed to get her to twist daddy’s arm to get on the bill.

Mark, you were in London recently. Did you manage to check out any bands and did anyone impress you?

I managed to see a local band in Camden Town, called Nylon X – a cool female fronted outfit – kind of stumbled upon the gig by accident while stopping at a pub for a drink. I spent most of my free time
doing the pure touristy things, but did manage to buy myself some incredible music DVDs that I can’t find here – some classic footage of Deep Purple in the 70′s taken at a night club!!

12th Avenue have a new bassist, Brian Lee, and are going to begin touring again. How excited are you to get back together with the guys and rip it up once more?

Let me put it to you in the form of a musical reference… Have you heard a song from Lonely Island – ‘Jizz in my pants’? That should sum up my excitement methinks (smiles).

The Parlotones are putting their name on absolutely everything these days – from wine to KFC. Some people have accused them of becoming sell-outs and milking their cash cow for all it’s worth, while others have praised their business sense and ability to become a brand. If given the opportunity would you let 12th Avenue’s name be used for other commercial ventures?

There’s no doubt in my mind that The Parlotones are a great marketing machine. I have no problem with a band making some money. I’m sure they didn’t get into this to keep playing to mom and dad in the garage. I do, however, wonder about the various musical taste of the person in charge of selecting the artist to be used in the commercials (smiles). Seriously though, KISS is still the best band at marketing every aspect of their band, from comic books to characters, to TV shows, to coffins – yes coffins (smiles). In terms of 12A, we are more than happy to be involved with various commercial ventures. As a matter of fact, we have been involved with various sponsors in the past and will probably continue to do so in the future. From a business point of view, you need to do what is necessary to keep your business afloat.

Every day, I receive complaints from bands about the lack of managers or management for local bands. Did 12th Avenue also find this a problem and would you recommend self-management?

I think management is necessary. Although, I have to stress that you shouldn’t just have a manager for the sake of having one. It is not an easy job to keep a band in order and touring. A band can be broken due to bad management, but can also achieve great things when under great management. The truth is that you don’t need a manager in the beginning of your career – you can get everything done as a team and make more money that way too. Once the demand is up and you find yourselves pulling at strings to keep up – that’s a good sign that you need a manager to handle your affairs.

Thanks for your time, Mark. Any final words and where can our readers find out more about 12th Avenue?

You can check all 12A related stuff at:

www.12thavenueband.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/12th-Avenue/10558829953
http://twitter.com/12thAvenueband

For bookings contact: nicci@12thavenueband.com

Thank you for the interview!! Rock n’ Roll will save the world!!

Photograph of Mark Haze taken by Ralph Otto.

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